Congo’s giant copper discovery grows by nearly one-third to 12 million tonnes as prices hit record high

Canadian mining company Ivanhoe Mines said on Tuesday that additional drilling increased the copper contained in its Makoko District discovery by 30% to approximately 12 million tonnes.

The discovery forms part of Ivanhoe’s Western Forelands exploration project near Kolwezi, the mining centre of Congo’s copper-rich Lualaba province.

Since the previous estimate was completed, Ivanhoe has drilled approximately 64,000 metres across 106 holes. The work added about 2.76 million tonnes of contained copper to the resource estimate.

Makoko now has an indicated resource of 34 million tonnes of material grading 2.66% copper. A further 612 million tonnes grading 1.80% copper remains in the inferred category.

Indicated resources carry greater geological confidence than inferred resources, although neither automatically qualifies as a commercially recoverable reserve.

Ivanhoe describes Western Forelands as the world’s largest and highest-grade copper discovery of the past decade. The company based the claim partly on data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, but S&P has not independently reviewed Ivanhoe’s latest resource estimate.

Copper discovery expands as prices surge

The announcement comes during an extraordinary rise in copper prices.

Ivanhoe said the London Metal Exchange price reached $14,530 per tonne on 7 September, representing a 78% increase from $8,167 when the first Makoko estimate was published in November 2023.

Its shares subsequently closed 12.82% higher in Toronto at C$13.29 on 8 September. The same-day movement does not, by itself, establish that the resource announcement was solely responsible for the increase.

Makoko sits within a 2,426-square-kilometre licence package that is more than six times the size of the neighbouring Kamoa-Kakula Copper Complex.

Kamoa-Kakula, owned by Ivanhoe, China’s Zijin Mining and the Congolese government, has developed into one of the world’s largest copper operations. It also operates a smelter capable of processing 500,000 tonnes of copper annually.

Ivanhoe believes Makoko could benefit from the roads, power facilities, processing experience and other infrastructure already developed around Kamoa-Kakula.

However, Makoko is not yet a mine. The company has not published its construction cost, annual production target or expected first-production date.

Ivanhoe prepares for possible mine

Ivanhoe plans to begin a scoping study during the first quarter of 2027. The preliminary assessment will examine whether parts of the deposit could be developed through open-pit mining before operations move underground.

The company is also preparing an additional 120,000-metre drilling programme intended to convert some of Makoko’s inferred resources into the more reliable indicated category.

Under Congo’s 2018 mining code, Ivanhoe can retain up to 80% of a licence when it is converted into a mining right. The remaining 20% would be divided between the Congolese state and eligible Congolese interests.